ZTE Firefox OS smartphone available globally for $80

In an attempted preemptive strike on other would be number three smartphone OS makers, Firefox and ZTE has partnered up to bring an $80 Firefox OS, unlocked smartphone to all users everywhere via eBay.

Yes, you read that right. ZTE will be selling the smartphone globally over eBay. By doing this, Mozilla, the Firefox operating system parent organization, will reach a worldwide market without needing to jump through the telephone carriers' hoops. It's an outside the box idea and, who knows, It Might Just Work.

Mr. Dai Wenhong, VP of ZTE said in a statement that, “It is great honor to launch the ZTE Open Firefox OS phone worldwide through eBay. ZTE is devoted to providing more options for customers globally and enabling them to live better lives via advanced technology. The ZTE Open offers customers a smartphone experience at an incredible price point, making it ideal for cost conscious consumers or those looking to upgrade to a smartphone for the first time.”

Mozilla in its announcement added that, "There won’t be any local apps or features because these devices are general, unlocked global variants targeted at developers and early adopters around the globe. As the devices are open market devices, they are not optimized for specific networks."

While we don't have all the ZTE Open's specs yet, here's what we do have:

Size: 114 x 62 x 12.5mm 3.5inch,

HVGA.TFT, One Point touch + Gesture Captive (two point option) screen

Memory: 512MB Rom +256MB RAM

Bluetooth 2.1, accelerometer, ambient light sensor

GPS, with AGPS

Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n

3.2M FF Camera

Battery: 1200mAH

It seems safe bet with the specs and this price this will not have a high-powered ARM processor. Unofficially, I am told by sources that it will be using a Qualcomm MSM7225A Snapdragon ARM processor. This is a single-core 1 GHz processor.

It may not be fast, but for $80 for a smartphone that will work with any network I can see it finding a broader audience than just gadget fans and open-source enthusiasts. And maybe, just maybe, Firefox OS will become the number three mobile operating system.